Door-latch



L. 0. Auem.

DOOR LATCH. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, l9l9.

1,330,773. Patented Feb. 17, 1920.

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A TTORNEYS LLOYD D. AUGIB, OF POTLATCH, IDAHO.

DOOR-LATCH.

resume.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 17, 1920.

Application filed June 6, 1919. Serial No. 302,099.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, LLOYD D. AUGIR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Potlatch, in the county of Latah and State of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Latches, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention is an im rovement in door latches, and has for its o liject to provide a device of the character specified adapted for use with either swinging or sliding doors and capable of use in left hand or right hand opening doors without change in the latch, and wherein the latch is normally held in withdrawn position, so that it will not catch on moving objects, when the door is open.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a longitudinal section through the casing of the latch;

Fig. 2 is a front view.

In the present embodiment of the invention a suitable casing l is provided, the said casing being of sheet metal of suficient weight, and this casing hasa passage 2 extending longitudinally of one face, and a slot 3 extending longitudinally of the other and registering with the passage.

The casing is formed from a sheet of material of suitable width and length bent upon itself into channel shape and with an inwardly extending web at the top of each channel wall. The passage 2 is formed between these fianges. The casing also has perforated ears 3 at its ends, by means of which it may be secured to the door 4:, and the door is provided with a slot 5 registering with the'slot 3 of the casing.

lit will be noted that the casing has one end open, the other being closed by an upstanding web 6, and the casing is arranged with the open end at the edge of the door. The latch 7 has at its outer end a catch 8, the said catch having its corner rounded and having a perpendicular shoulder at the inner end of the rounded portion for engaging a struck-up lug 9 on a keeper 10 which. is secured to the casement 11 of the door.

This keeper has oppositely extending flanges 12 which are provided with openings for receiving screws or the like to secure the keeper to the easement. The arrangement is such that when the latch moves into the keeper the catch will engage with the lug 9,

and is disengaged therefrom by moving the latch laterally away from the lug. The latch is pivoted in an auxiliary guide casing, to be described, on a pivot pin 13 which extends transversely of the latch and engages the side walls of the casing, and the latch has a cross handle 14 connected with that end remote from the catch.

By means of the handle the latch may be rocked on its pivotal connection to disenthe same from the lug 9 or it may be moved longitudinally of the casing 1. The ends of the handles 14- move in the passage 2 and the slot 3, respectively, and a coil spring 15 is arranged between the latch and the flange 6, the said spring acting normally to draw and hold the latch in the cas- 111g.

The auxiliary casing fits loosely within the main casing 1 and serves as a guide for the latch and as a sliding mounting for the latch. A plate spring 17 is arranged between the auxiliary casing 18 and that end of the latch adjacent to the handle let, the spring acting normally to press the latch in a direction to cause the catch to engage the lug 9. The auxiliary casing is merely an open ended casing shaped to fit within the main casing, and when the latch is in latching position the auxiliary casing extends into the keeper as shown.

To release the latch, it is rocked by means of the handle 14:, and it will be noted that the ends of the handle 1 L extend beyond the main casing 1, and after the catch is disengaged from the lug 9 it is drawn into the casing by the spring. Thus the latch will always be in withdrawn position, out of position to engage moving objects, as, for instance, live stock, harness and the like.

T Vhether the door is a swinging door or a sliding door the latch operates equally well, to hold the door closed, and it may be used at either side of the door, the side upon which it is used being immaterial. The latch is limited in its sliding movement inwardly by means of lugs 19 and 20 on the auxiliary casing, and on the main casing, respectively. The lug 19 extends laterally outward through an opening in the casing 1, and by its engagement with the lug 20 and with the inner end of the opening in which it moves limits the movement of the latch in both directions.

It will be noticed that the lugs 19 and 20 have openings for receiving the hasp of a padlock, in order that the lock may be locked.

I claim:

1. A latch or the character specified comprising a main casing having one end open,

a latch mounted to slide in the casing and to extend beyond the casing at the open end, a spring normally drawing the latch inward, a guide for the latch to which the latch is pivoted and movable longitudinally of the casing, saidlatch being rockable in the guide, means for moving the latch, and

means for limiting the movement of the latch in each direction.

2. A latch of the character specified comprising a main casing having one end open, a latch mounted to slide in the casing and to extend beyond the casing at the open end, a spring normally drawing the latch inward, a guide for the latch to Which the latch is pivoted and movable longitudinally of the casing, said latch being rockable in the guide, and means for moving the latch.

LLOYD D. AUGIR. 

